The Sacrifice
by Draconian Dragonfly
Summary: When Snow kills Emma's true love before her very eyes just how far will Emma go to save her Beloved? Just how much will she sacrifice?
1. The Death of Love, and the Birth of Hate

**A/N: I do not own OUAT. For many reasons. Starting with Neal and Emma are NO and Emma and Regina are YES.  
This will probably be 3-5 chapters. **

Chapter One: The death of Love, and the birth of Hate

"I will not allow you to go through with this, you must not kill her. Regina is my true love damn it!" Emma shouted, shaking the bars of her cage as she did so. Snow frowned at her daughter. "Will you really separate me from her?"

"Oh, sweetheart. You do not understand, this is all a trick. Regina must be put to death, so that you are released from her magical hold. And to pay for all the Evil she had done" Snow said. Her voice was not sad in the least. Only angry.

Once again Emma tried with all of her might to get out of the six foot cubed cage that had been built by the dwarves, and infused with magic by the fairies. It was like the jail cell that had been built for Rumplestiltskin, accept this one had wheels.

No matter how hard she shook, no matter what magic she tried to use it was all futile. Her magic didn't work, and her hands were bleeding. Emma finally stopped, and stared out of her cage past the crowd of people.

Eyes locked, and the both mouthed their love for each other. Emma couldn't tear her eyes away, no matter how she wished she could. Past the crowd her True Love was standing in a gallows, built by the townspeople. The rope was around her neck, the masked executioners hand on the lever that would drop her to her death.

Never before had Emma thought someone was truly, and completely, evil. She was now being proven wrong. Her parents had not only tossed her away barely minutes old to a world they did not know, they were now forcing her to watch as they killed her true love. Her very soul.

Alight with new fire Emma struck out against the bars with everything she could. Her wrist broke, and she used her head to smash against the steel bars that glittered thanks to the fairy dust. Blood flowed down her fingers, and dripped into her eyes and mouth. She was useless against this cage, and she leaned against the bars as she stopped once more.

She watched, tears mingling with her blood as her heart ceased to exist. The executioner pulled the lever, and Regina closed her eyes. Her body falling, before being caught by the noose around her neck. And then her lifeless body swayed back and forth. Emma's true love was dead.

There was no more reason to fight, and Emma collapsed to the ground. Her body filling with nothing but pain and hatred. Emma needed revenge, her mother was very lucky that she was stuck in the cage. Because if she would be ripping her mother limb from limb. Should she get out, she would do so with pleasure.

Emma laid there, in the bottom of the cage. Reliving the murder of her beloved Regina over, and over again. Had she and Henry not begged her to break the curse, had she not selfishly loved her, and wanted to grow old beside her. Then this would not have happened, she wished she could have been happy growing old alone, Regina immortally twenty-eight at her side.  
Despite her guilt, or maybe because of it, her anger grew to massive proportions. Her hatred like a volcano, ready to erupt, inside of her. She didn't know how, she didn't know when, but of one thing Emma was certain. She would have her revenge, one way, or another.

"Are you better now? The spell she put you under should have wore off by now." Snow said with a bright smile. She walked right up to the cage, fully expecting her daughter to be 'cured' of her ailments.

In one swift motion Snow's face was slammed against the bars. Emma's large hands around her neck, stopping the blood flow to her brain, and the airflow to her lungs. She tried to get Emma's hands off of her, but it was of no use. Emma was physically stronger. The dark haired woman was scared as her face turned red.

"If it takes me to my dying day I will rip your innards from your body, and twist them into a bouquet for my hallowed love's grave." Growled the blonde as her father ripped Snow from her fingertips. "I will have your head as well, Executioner" She spat at David.

The couple decided that she simply needed more time for the spell to wear off, so they stayed away from her the next few days. Making Ruby deliver food, and the promise that once the spell had dissipated they would release her from her prison.

On the fifth day since the death of her beloved her parents decided to show their ugly, worthless faces to Emma once again. This time they brought along her son. The one they claimed Regina had 'stolen' from her. Snow and Charming hoped that seeing Henry would set her straight.

"Mom?" He had said excitingly. He had missed her, he still wasn't over the death of Regina. He understood, somewhat. But, even though the woman had been Evil, he had wanted them to be a family.

But Henry was young. He full heartedly believed anything that fell from his grandmother's lips. So, even though he wished it were true, he had believed Snow when she sat him down and explained to him that Emma was cursed. That Regina had placed some form of enchantment on her to cause her to act like she did. And that the only way to Save Emma was to make the woman who raised him pay for her crimes.

"You killed your mother child, you singlehandedly ensure her death at Snow White's hand. You are no son of mine, nor will you ever be. It is an insult to a great woman that she raised such an ungrateful, unloving, stupid boy!" Hissed Emma.

Henry burst into tears, and Emma turned her back on him. She hated the child she had birthed, she had never wished so deeply that she had simply had the abortion that his theif of a father had wanted her to have. She listened to the trio's footsteps as the two idiots escorted their grandson away. She didn't doubt that they would go to Gold to try and 'Cure' her. But she knew there was no cure for the pain she felt.

Gold narrowed his eyes, and a single eyebrow rose as Charming and Snow entered his pawn shop. He rose from his chair behind the cash register. Wondering just what the idiotic duo could want from him, no matter what it was, he wasn't about to help them. He was not about to become an enemy of a force greater than he himself could ever dream of being.

"Whatever spell Regina placed upon our daughter has yet to lift, we beg of you, aid us. Tell us how cure Emma." David's tone was demanding, rather than pleading. And his words were, most likely, Snow's.

The true love pair shared a look of confusion, and anger, when Rumpelstiltskin outright laughed at them. And not his usual giddy laughs he did when he was making a deal, this laugh was sinister. Final, and they were filled with fear that he would not help them save their child.

"What spell?" He said as he limped towards them, using his cane. He stopped when he was two feet away from the pair, he simply could not understand how such 'good' people could not see something as powerful, and final, as true love.

"The spell that the Evil Queen put on our daughter!" Snow said in aggravation. "You must help us! We will give you whatever you want, anything. Just tell us how to save Emma from the effects of whatever curse or spell she is under"

"True love is no spell Dearie. It is strong, pure, and absolute." Gold paused, allowing this to sink in. "Neither of you listened to what your daughter had to say, didn't listen to her warning. Nor did you listen to mine. Both of you sent me away. Instead of opening your eyes, and ears, you had your daughter's other half. The other half of her very soul, murdered. Worse, you forced her to watch!"

David and Snow both opened their mouths to protest against his words, but the Dark One simply stomped his cane against the floor, taking away their voices. He placed his cane in front of him, and rested both hands on it. And chose his next words slowly, precisely. He wanted them to hurt, and he wanted them to know what was coming. To dread the evil their incompetence had created. And he wanted to cause there pain slowly.

"Emma was a broken woman, already a short stones throw from the darkside anyway. Then, you had her watch as her love was hung from a gallows. Even I, the Dark One of legend, am not that heartless. Now you dare come to me hoping that I help you from the Evil that you created?" Gold's voice was stern, heavy, and angry.

Stunned in silence, in disbelief, neither one spoke. Even when Rumplestiltskin pounded his cane against the floor again, giving them both back their voices. Shrouded in silence the evil man waited, wondering what they would say in their defence, if anything at all. He had always found Snow a little too naive for her own good.

"NO" Snow shouted, breaking the silence like a rattler bite to the ankle. "That, there is no way she is her True Love. That's. That's. It's a lie. Evil can't change, and good can't love evil!" Snow simply did not want to accept the truth. Still did not want to believe the facts in front of her.

Rumplestiltskin merely shook his head. Snow White had been gifted with beauty, and strength but, like many princess stereotypes, she simply was not gifted with brains. Charming did his best to calm down Snow, who was still denying the truth that the Dark One had put before her.

"Have you not paid attention Snow?" Rumplestiltskin asked. Shutting the woman up as she turned to look at him once more. "Why would I choose YOUR daughter as the Savior? If all it took was someone from our world I could have sent someone that I had trained myself over. But I could not. The Savior had to be the True Love of the caster, and I made the curse for Regina. A woman who was powerful enough to cast it."

Arms wrapped around the woman as her knees buckled and she lost her balance. Charming clutched to his wife, not wanting to believe what he heard. However, he could no longer deny it. The proof before him, before his wife, was damning. And he knew, by his wife's reactions, that she'd come to the realization as well.

"Please, tell me you're lying. I can not, I can not live with the fact that my daughter was the soul mate, the true love, of a woman with a past such as the Evil Queens" Her voice cracked as she pleaded with the dark one.

Astonished the Dark One's mouth hung open a little. He was rendered momentarily speechless by the lack of caring, compassion, or sorrow for her daughter. How could one who was supposedly so good not feel at least somewhat badly for killing her daughter's true love before her eyes? No, the only thing Snow cared about was the fact that her daughter was in love with the woman who she had been forced to die.

"Oh, but it is true. Under the constant attack of your daughter's magic, I doubt the cage will hold much longer. I would prepare for battle, even if you have no hope of winning" Rumplestiltskin said with a sinister smile.

"The cage is as strong as your cell was, no magical being can escape!" David said forcefully, and Gold erupted into laughter once more. "Why are you laughing!?" He demanded.

"While I would be no match against the prison you have built your daughter, she is more powerful than I, and the late Queen herself combined. Tenfold. Your child is the most magical being to set foot on any earth, ever, and soon she will escape. And I will laugh once more" Snow paled, as did David.

The two royals shared a scared look. The daughter they had given up had magic, they had known that. As she was the product of true love. They had never expected her to hold as much as the Evil Queen. Let alone the amount the dark one had. Now to learn she had a level of power that was equal to the combined powers of the two most powerful magic users in their history, and then that power tenfold? They held little hope that they could amass an army to stop her tirade should she escape.

They knew that Rumpelstiltskin had told them he wouldn't help, but they hoped that was a ploy to ask them for something large. The two nodded at each other, pale-faced, and scared, before turning to face the annoyed looking man before them.

"You must help us. Surely we can give you something that would change your mind, our land, our kingdom. Anything. Everything we have." Snow said, David nodding his agreement. Gold frowned.

"My precious son himself could not get me to intervene against Emma, on Emma's side, yes, yours would be a death sentence. Even for an immortal such as I. Now leave, you have nothing to offer me" His voice came alongside a large gust of wind, pushing the duo back a few feet.

Heavy-hearted the couple left, hand in hand. David's spare hand on the pommel of his sword. The first place they were headed was the Dwarves. They needed a bigger, stronger cage as soon as possible. To place the first one inside of, together they had to do everything in their power to protect the people from the Evil Regina's death had caused, as neither wanted to take the rightful blame for what now pulsated where Emma's heart should be.

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed. If you have the time/feel the want please let me know what you think. Thank you. **


	2. Vengeance

Part Two: Vengeance

Emma finally made it out of the cage, and a smile wandered onto her face. Lopsided, and consisting of only evil it was splayed proudly on her face as she made her way towards her parents apartment. She walked, watching with growing satisfaction as all those saw her in the late hour scurried away.

Power, anger, and hatred had replaced the blood inside of her body as she climbed the stairs, and used the spare key to quietly unlock the door. She could feel the presence of the people in the apartment. She knew they were all asleep. Staring into the darkness of the room her smile only grew, she could taste vengeance on her tongue.

As much as she wished she could throw Henry into a wood-chipper while he was still alive Emma knew she could not, the first reason being that a woodchipper was too out in the open, and the second being that as much as she truly wanted to spill the boys blood she knew that her Beloved would hate her for ending the life of the child she had loved.

This left her only two people to enact her revenge upon. The two people who had given her life. Emma climbed the stairs quickly, going into Henry's room first. She waved her hand over his head, putting him into a deep sleep that he would not awaken from for several hours. She didn't need him waking up to Snow's, or David's, screams. It took all of her strength not to smother him with a pillow.

Deciding that even though she could not kill him she had to have some form of vengeance she grabbed his water, and drank it. Then raised her hands above it, filling it with a poison that tasted, and looked just like water. It would render him completely infertile, the White line would die with him. It wasn't very satisfying, but it was the best that Emma was going to get without angering her true love.

Staring down at the sleeping, cuddled version of her parents as they slept peacefully angered Emma, but she continued to stare. Trying to decide who she would have fun with first, the woman who orchestrated the murder of her lover, the woman who had made sure it was done. Or, the man who had actually pulled the lever.

Waving her hand over Snow's face she made her decision. Putting the woman into a deep sleep like Henry's, she would awaken her once she was done with Charming. She smiled, her teeth glinting in the tiny amount of light in the room. Emma cracked her knuckles, and cocked her head to the side.

Charming let out a gargled, half-asleep yelp when Emma grabbed one of his legs and pulled him off of the bed. His body hit the floor with a loud thumb, and his daughter laughed as he spat out a little bit of blood as he tried to sit up. He got to his feet, grabbed the sword by his bed and ran for the light. Flipping it on.

"Emma" He whispered in disbelief, his sword raised at his daughter. "Don't do this, it can be okay." Charming pleaded, but that only made Emma angrier. He had no right for life when he had taken her Beloved's.

Snapping her fingers she summoned a sword, and she gripped it tightly, letting her thumb rest on the crossguard. Charming rushed her, and she allowed him some hope as they clashed swords. But that soon became boring, and she stabbed him in the gut. Causing him to drop his sword in surprise.

Emma's sword became a dagger, and she shoved it into Charming's belly button. Yanking the blade all the way up to his neckline. He screamed, but they died down as blood loss got the better of him, and his eyes closed. He was dead when Emma pulled out his organs and tossed them up onto the bed, next to his sleeping wife.

His daughter used his very own sword to chop off his head. A satisfied smirk graced her beautiful face. She placed her father's head on his pillow, making sure that he was facing his wife. Not bothering to wipe his blood from her hands she crawled onto the bed, straddling her mother.

Snow awoke to wet hands around her throat, her daughters face hovering above her. She quickly discovered she was pinned beneath Emma's body. She tried to push Emma off of her, but the blonde was stronger. And it was now that she realized that Emma was saturated with blood. She feared whose blood it was. She jerked her head to look over at her husband, wondering why he wasn't aiding her.

She let out a strangled cry, tears beginning to form in her eyes as she saw his head, and several organs adorning his pillow. Snow could still see part of his body propped up against the wall a few feet from the bed, his sword tossed at his feet. Emma had killed him, and she knew she was next. Had she already killed Henry?

"How does it feel to know your True Love was killed? I suppose now that I think about it I should have made you watch, it would have been fair then wouldn't it?" Emma hissed as she ran a hand, still covered in blood, down the side of her mother's face. "I poisoned the boy"

"Henry is your son." Choked out Snow. "How could you?" Emma frowned at Snow daring to call such an abomination her child. She hated him as much as she hated his grandparents, but she could not kill him.

Finger wrapped more tightly around Snow's throat, crushing it almost to the point where she died. As Emma's hold loosened the dark-haired Queen took a sharp intake of breath, she should have felt relief. But Emma's eyes told her that the torture was not yet over.

Her throat was now free, but Emma quickly captured both of her hands above her head. It was clear who was in control. Snow could barely move. The woman shook her head and tried to keep her mouth closed as Emma lifted a bloody finger and placed it on her lips. After a few seconds of struggling Emma won out, and the taste of her husbands blood tainted Snow's tongue.

"I wish I had killed him when it was inside of me." Snarled Emma, finally answering Snow's earlier question. "He shouldn't be allowed to live, he is a worthless, stupid peice of shit just like you and your hubby"

"I'm sorry that she was your true love" Snow whispered, and Emma's hands were on her neck again. Her teeth clenching in anger, her mother felt absolutely zero remorse over killing her true love.

"You are only sorry that I love her. Not that she died, at your hand. If It was in my power I would bring you back to life, over and over again. Just to kill you, just to kill him over again. To kill your happiness, and your soul. Like you killed mine" Hissed Emma right before Snow's eyes rolled back into her head, and her heart gave it's very last beat.

Leaving the apartment she found that she was not as satisfied as she thought she would be, she wished she had toyed with them longer. Tortured them more, possibly for days on end. Perhaps for years before she finally allowed them the mercy of death, but she could not bring them back. But perhaps, Gold could. Perhaps, he could bring her Beloved back to her. She headed for her own apartment, she needed a shower and a change of clothes before she forced Rumplestiltskin to do her bidding.

"You will bring her back." Demanded Emma as she forced open the door to the shop. "You will bring Regina back to me" She stomped her way so she was peering down at the sitting magical beast of a man.

"I am incapable of bringing back the dead, not even you hold such power. Although, even if either of us could, she wouldn't be the same. And the town would kill her once more" Rumpelstiltskin spoke slowly. Carefully. He didn't wish to anger Emma anymore then he absolutely had to.

Anger her he did. Her teeth crunched together, causing the room to fill with the sickening sound. Her fists clenched, and she slammed one of them onto the glass case before her. Shattering it, Gold pushed back. Emma didn't even wince, her hand was filled with glass shards.

"Tell me what to do Gold. I must bring her back. I must save her." Emma growled as she pulled chunks of the glass out of her hand, dropping the bloodstained offenders onto the pile of it's clear brethren.

"You can never have your Beloved back. However, you hold enough power to go back in time. To alter history, so you can save her from Snow's death squad. I can tell you all you need to know, I can tell you what you need to do. However, there is a price you will pay. And I will require a payment." Rumpelstiltskin said as he stood.

There was no point in thinking it over. Not even when Rumple told her the price she would pay. Should she alter history, save Regina from Cora. Allow Regina to be the good person she would have been, then Emma would most likely not be born. And even if she was, she would not be the person she is now. She would never have Regina. Never realize that they were true loves.

Emma was alright with that. Her mind, her heart was set. She would return to the past, and she would kill Cora before she could corrupt the child that would grow into an amazing woman. The blonde knew that without her lover in any world she didn't wish to live. So, she agreed to Gold's terms.

"When you bring Bae back to me, make sure he is as the day he left me. Make sure you return him on the same day you alter Regina's destiny. Give me the deal, I have signed it, and my past self will know it's true. The contract, combined with the return of Bae, will make it so that my past self with uphold it's contents." Gold handed her the rolled up parchment.

Respect, something she'd never thought she'd do for the Dark One. But he had earned it. He had given her everything she needed to save Regina. Told her the extent of her powers, and helped set everything up for her. Planned it in detail. However, she was not naive. She knew that Rumple could have fought for her harder, but, she was the key to getting his son back. And in the end, she could save Regina. That was enough for her to forgive him. She shook his hand, before stepping into the portal she had conjured in front of her.

**A/N: Sorry it's so short, but I thought this was a good place to end this. I had thought of going into more detail about her kills but decided that doing so would be overkill. Bad pun intended. As always if you have the time please let me know what you thought! **


	3. In the name of Love

Catching Baelfire before he managed to land into a world without magic was rather easy, but, Emma knew that was just thanks to the power that she held. Popping into the stream of his portal, grabbing onto the back of his shirt, and taking him with her to a later time stream. For her, it was as easy as snapping her fingers. Yet, Rumplestiltskin never held that kind of power. Thankfully he knew how to train her to use it, even if he himself could not. Though he did not have her power he made sure to use it to his advantage. Emma understood that, and accepted it.

Placing the boy under an alteration spell was overly simplistic, and now he would accept his father's magic. Rather than reject it. Emma wondered why the man hadn't done it himself before his son had jumped through a portal, but, she guessed that his love for the boy stopped him from doing it. She found that reason to be stupid, but she owed the man who had shown her the extent of her seemingly endless magic.

"Bae?" Gold said as he shot up. Emma had transported herself, and Gold's son, into Gold's home. "Is that really you?" Bae nodded. "Oh Bae!" Gold wrapped his scaly arms around his long lost son.

Long overdue hugs and mutterings happened between the father and his child, and Emma waited semi-patiently. She understood Gold's pain, she'd lost a love. Losing a precious child probably wasn't much different. Not that she'd ever lost one, the child she'd lost deserved only death in her eyes after all. Even if she had not been able to get the full vengeance she wanted from him. Finally after what seemed like ages Gold turned to look at her.

"Thank you" Rumplestiltskin told her, clutching onto his son like he was made of the metal he had named himself after in the new world. "But, how did you know he was mine? Why did you bring him to me?"

Rather than answer his question Emma handed him the contract. As his eyes gazed upon it his jaw fell to the floor. Mouth hanging open he re-read it a second, and third time. His signature at the bottom. He'd recognize it anywhere, this was no fake. He still barely believed it, but his son was by his side. He'd do anything to have his boy back. He owed the woman before him much more than he could give.

"I caught him when he jumped through the portal, I brought him to you on this day, at your request. I made it so he will forgive you, and accept your magic. I have upheld my end of our bargain, I do not have long in this world. It is up to you to uphold the rest. The version of yourself I made this with assured me you would not back down on a deal." Emma spoke slowly, with certainty.

"From the future, but I had not seen this. Even I, admittedly, do not have the power to alter the past, why would I deal with someone who, clearly, has more power than I Dearie?" Rumpelstiltskin said, pulling his son into a sideways hug. Scared to let go of him.

"To change it. This was the only way to get your son back, the only way to get what I need as well. Uphold the words of the contract you have signed. Do not make my regret my decision to uphold mine, you know as well as I that could have simply not done my end." Emma crossed her arms as she spoke.

No lie was spoken. The Savior could have easily just gone and done what she'd set out to do without meddling in Gold's sons affairs. However, she'd decided to uphold her end. In the hope that the slimey pawnbroker would hold up his. From the way he pocketed it as he looked at her, before glancing at his son with love, she doubted he'd cross her. Or, it could have simply been his fear at hearing the pure malice of her voice.

The contract stated that Regina Mills was to have an easy life, to find love, to be treated like a Queen. That she was to live in luxury, and never feel deep pain. The other part of the contract enlisted the Dark One to meddle in Snow White's life. He was to make sure that no matter what she was not to bare child. The last condition was that Charming, and his brother would both die. Neither allowed to cross Snow's path. Things that would be no trouble for one such as the Dark One.

"My word, on my son's life" Emma nodded at him, they grasped each other's wrists. Shaked once, and then the man was left alone with the son he had longed to see for more moons than one should be able to see.

Knowing she would be unable to finish the task at hand without seeing the infantile portrayal of her beloved she headed towards the babys nursery. While she knew that she should not, she could not help herself. Emma had found herself waiting till the infants nursemaid had left her alone to sneak into her bedchambers. Unable to stop herself she had plucked the baby from her cradle. Holding her tightly in her arms.

"What I do, I do for you. My beloved Regina. I wish only that the cost was not as it is. That we could be together, but alas, it can not be. Be free my love. Grow, Love, be happy." Emma kissed Regina's forehead, a single tear trekking it's way down her cheek.

Holding her beloved cause her heart to break all over again. She held the child, who slept in her arms, sparing a few sleepy glances here or there, until footsteps could be heard coming down the corridor. Emma felt like her very soul was shattering as she placed Regina back down.

Visiting her Hallowed lover left her with even more determination. More anger, hatred. More than ever she was relentless, and she was filled to the brim with Malice. The woman who acted as the first stressor, the first to corrupt, to destroy her True Love. That woman was soon to die at her very hand, in vengeance for deeds she had yet to perform.

Down the corridors she walked. Making herself invisible to all those who walked past her, her boots clunking against the stone floors. Scaring the maids who walked past. Emma knew just where she was headed. Cora's chambers. When she reached the right door she barged right in, revealing herself. And then she locked the doors behind her.

At the sense of danger Cora blasted a fireball at the blonde. But the woman disappeared in a flash of purple smoke, appearing mere moments later. Striking fear deep within the endless pit of darkness and decay that lay where Cora's heart should lie. No one should be able to get inside of her bedchambers.

"Who, what, are you?" Screeched Cora. No one but she herself should have had the ability to use magic inside of her room. She was powerful, the only known person to get past all of her enchantments was Rumplestiltskin.

"I am the woman who loves your daughter. A woman who is willing to risk everything, even not being born, if it means that the woman I love with every fiber, every ounce, of my being will not have to endure the pain that you inflicted upon her shoulders" Emma advanced as she spoke, and Cora retreated.

Muttering spell after spell Cora tried to get Emma every from her. As her back landed against the far wall she had gone so far as to try and rip the women's heart out. To find that while she could feel the organ, she could not yank it out. She was powerless against this woman's heart. Her magic falling futile against the intruder in strange clothing.

"My daughter is not of age. She still drinks from her governess's breast, but please. When she is of age you may have her hand if that is what you desire" Cora assured, it was a lie. And they both knew it. Cora didn't know what was going on, but she needed the time to find the power to defeat the blond.

"I know. I saw her earlier on this day. Such a beautiful babe. How could you take the woman from her own child? Just because she could feed the one you see fit to abuse and torture? I must lose everything, my very existence, my soul. As it means that she will be safe from your hatred, from the pain you will cause." Emma's hands were on either side of the woman's head. And Cora shook as Emma looked down at her.

Never before, not once, had Cora ever feared for her own life. It was rare for her to be afraid period. But now, not she feared death. The woman before her struck the fear deep inside of her. And then she felt Emma's hand inside of her chest. Ripping out her blackened organ that one called a heart. The pit of darkness and decay that rested under her ribcage. Before her very eyes the unknown intruder crushed it. The woman who had been destined to destroy all the good inside of her very own daughter died.

The relief that she had changed destiny was short lived as Emma herself slumped to the ground. Her heart quickening to the point it was like that of a hummingbird's wings. Slowly her eyes closed, and her body began to fade. As if it had never truly existed. But that was alright, because, in the end, Emma Swan had saved the only person she had ever truly loved. The only person who had ever truly loved her. All of her.

Emma Swan had more than True Love with her beloved. She freely gave her soul so that her hallowed love could live on, to prosper, so that she could be happy. Changing history so that Regina could be free, even if it meant that she would also be free of her. Emma Swan would never exist. Never be born, and her deed would not be known. But the woman she had done it all for. Was free.

All magic comes with a price. Demanding sacrifice. Emma had been warned. But, as the Rumplestiltskin from her time had known, you will give anything to save the ones you love. For Love is the most powerful magic of them all, there is little one would die for, but dying for love isn't really dying at all. It's simply giving yourself so the one you love can live on. It's pure, unadulterated sacrifice. And that, is the most magnificent of all Love.

**A/N: I deeply apologize for taking so long to update. I was attempting to perfect this chapter, but so far every version had been. Disappointing, at least to me. This one is one I can be happy with. For now this is the end, but in the future I might add to it. Who knows? As always, please leave me your thoughts if you have the time.**


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